Forgiven, But Far From Forgotten
by Storm Princess
Summary: When Kim is injured in battle, Ron is reminded of a past action he took and is left feeling rather guilty. Can Kim help him get over the past?


**Forgiven, But Far From Forgotten**

Kim sighed; she was getting to a point where she was beyond frustrated. Ron had been avoiding her for three days straight. She didn't know why either; it's not like they had a fight recently or anything. But, come to think of it, he had been acting weird ever since they had come back from their most recent mission. Well, weirder then usual.

She just didn't understand it. It hadn't been _that_ different then the rest of the missions they usually did together. Pretty much the only difference was why she went in the first place.

_Flashback _

_The Kimmunicator was ringing. Kim half considered not answering it, Wade was probably just calling to tell her he'd topped his high score on whatever video game he was playing, and she was swamped right now, what with her report due tomorrow and all. But, then again, it might be important… _

_With a sigh, Kim answered. "What up, Wade." _

_Wade didn't seem to detect a change in her tone, or if he did, he didn't say anything. _

"_It's Senior, Kim." _

_That perked Kim's attention. _

"_We haven't heard from in a while. What's he planning this time? And please tell me it doesn't involve Le Goop." _

_The tech genius's brow furrowed. "Actually, I don't know what his plan is."_

"_Then why are you calling me?" _

_Wade looked decidedly uncomfortable, though from her comment or something else she couldn't be sure. "Uh, you'd better see for yourself." _

_The screen changed to Senior. "Ah, Miss Possible. I am sure you are used to your computer friend sending you to our island, but this time, I am asking you to come. Of course, this is not a formal invitation, but Jr. and I thought you could join the party. After all, your friend is already here." The view widened and Kim caught glance of an unconscious Ron chained to the wall. Her grip tightened on the Kimmunicator. _

"_I am sure you don't want him to be lonely, but for more motivation, if you are here any later then six tonight, young Stoppable will meet an untimely demise. I hope to see you soon, Miss Possible." Then he broke off into evil, maniac, laughter and the screen went blank. _

"_Wade, is there any chance he has a gadget or something on him? Something to get him out of there?"_

_Wade shook his head. "No. The Seniors must have grabbed him on the way home from school. Anyway, it wouldn't matter if he did, 'cause they chained his arms above his head. There's no way he can get out without assistance." The tech geek said reasonably._

"_What about Rufus?" _

"_I scanned the background; they've got him in a bird cage. He needs you, Kim." _

"_I'm on it." _

_End Flashback _

Kim rubbed a sensitive area on her shoulder. Ron had gotten himself captured before, but it was usually by Drakken and Shego. Triple S always had a trick or two up his sleeve, something he proved that night.

_Flashback_

_Kim approached the island cautiously. Senior always had traps of some sort up, and she had no intention of getting caught this early in the game. Obviously, he had something planned. She had the feeling that it wasn't the normal take over the world scheme either, those never involved kidnapping her best friend and baiting her to them, he always went out of his way to keep her off his island when he had a doomsday devise. _

_She got in with no problem. That made her even more uneasy, when she stepped inside, an alarm didn't even go off. But movement caught her attention and she looked up to see the two standing above her._

"_Good evening Miss Possible. You are here earlier then expected." _

"_Cut the formalities, Senior. Where's Ron?" Her voice came out colder then expected. But, after all, no one messes with her friends or family and gets away with it. _

"_I'm over here, KP." She turned and saw her friend, grinning sheepishly and waving best as he could with his hands pinned above his head._

"_As you can see, he is unharmed, at least for the moment. Unfortunately you will not stay the same way. Miss Possible, allow me to introduce you to my 'helpers.'"_

_Huh? Then Kim was surrounded, of course, by evil robots. But this time, something was different. This time they were carrying… swords? _

"_Sword wielding evil robots, how original." Kim rolled her eyes and threw a punch at the nearest robot. It didn't seem affected in the least, a stark contrast to the red headed cheerleader who was rubbing her now aching wrist. _

"_Actually, they're called katanas." Jr. spoke up. _

"_Surprised, Kim Possible?" They are virtually indestructible, and they are programmed with virtually every fighting style known to man. Translation: You can't win this time!" _

_Kim hadn't been listening; she was busy trying to defend herself from the fighting machines. But she felt the need to clarify one thing. "If their so great, why are they carrying swords?" She ducked a blow from one and barely moved out of the way of another's sword._

"_They're katanas."_

"_Whatever!" _

"_Miss Possible, you know I need you out of the way to carry out world domination. I'm surprised you need to ask."_

_Kim barely managed to avoid a Dragon Punch from her left. "So what's the plan Sr? What's your take over the world scheme this time?" _

"_Actually, a plan is still in the making. The only reason I took your sidekick was so you'd come, and I could destroy you, once and for all." _

_Kim fought hard, but there were too many of them. She knew it would only be so long before one got a lucky hit in. _

_She was right, of course. _

_She dodged a kick from the right, but she failed to see the one sneaking up on her until it was too late. She spotted him in time to avoid a mortal wound, but she could not stop the blade from penetrating the tender flesh on her shoulder. _

"_AH!" She gripped her shoulder, trying to ignore the deep gash on it. Seeing an opening, the rest ganged up on her, taking advantage of her weakened state. _

"_KP!" If Kim was upset by her situation, Ron was even more so. He was struggling in his restraints, trying vainly to reach her. This all took place within a few seconds time, but even such a minor distraction can be devastating in a battle, especially if your opponents are carrying swords- erm- katanas. _

_Fortunately, or unfortunately for her, Rufus's cage was broken in the struggle and he was heading towards Ron. Unfortunately, while he was trying to reach the release button on the shackles, three other robots had managed to pin Kim to the floor and another was holding a katana above his head. She struggled, trying to free herself in vain from the robots grip, but to no avail._

_Then, with a Tarzan yell, a now free Ron leaped to her side, using his Monkey Kung Fu on the bots. To his credit, he managed to knock the robot's blade away just before it came down on Kim's chest. Unfortunately, because of his angle, the sharp blade came down on her leg instead. _

_End Flashback_

So, was that what he was upset about? It wasn't his fault that she was hurt, and besides, she'd been wounded on missions before. Granted, this was a bit more severe then usual, but so what? He had been the one to save her from a death blow, after all.

Kim sighed again, but this time it came out as more of a frustrated growl. There was only one way to settle this. She glanced at the clock on her wall. _4:30. Ron should be home about now. _

Exactly twenty minutes later, Kim stood on the Stoppable's porch, having just wrung the door bell and now waiting patiently for an answer. Mrs. Stoppable answered the door and Kim smiled politely.

"Hi. Is Ron here?"

"Yeah, he's upstairs. Come on in." She opened the door a little wider and Kim entered, already going up the stairs to Ron's room.

He was sitting on his bed, back to her and playing with his Nintendo DS. She could tell something was off with her friend, there was no whining when his little character got hit, nor the customary 'Booyah,' or 'in your face' when he landed a hit on the… zombies? She couldn't tell from her spot and didn't really care either. She approached Ron and tapped him on the shoulder, barely suppressing a smirk as he jumped in surprise.

"You know, you're only gonna damage your eyes playing that thing so much."

He managed to compose himself and smiled guiltily at his friend. _Why guiltily, he hasn't done anything wrong._

"Hey, KP, how ya doing? Uh, what's up? Another mission or… something?" He winced slightly at that, but not noticeably.

Kim chuckled as he practically tripped on his own words. "No, no mission. I'm worried about you, Ron. Ever since we came back from the Seniors, you've been avoiding me. And don't you dare try to deny it either," she said sharply as Ron opened his mouth in protest. "You haven't been answering my phone calls, replying to my e-mails, and you've flat out ignored me. Now, what's up?" Her tone was stern, the no nonsense one she usually saved for the supervillains, or the Tweebs when they really riled her up. She had taken up a tone of leadership, a tone Ron always respected, enough so that he almost didn't protest it.

Almost.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kim. There's nothing wrong with the Ronster." He tried for an innocent smile, but failed miserably.

Kim tried to be patient, but she was getting annoyed. Ron could be so exasperating! He could whine for weeks about a splinter or a papercut; but when he hurt, really hurt, he held it close, kept it to himself.

"Why won't you tell me? Whatever's wrong with you obviously isn't a minor detail. You've been avoiding me for three days, three days mind you, and you're sitting here telling me nothing. Now what is it!"

Ron knew he wouldn't be able to avoid the question forever; she wasn't called Kim Possible for nothing. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

"It's none of your business!" He turned to a startled Kim, who had never heard that tone from her friend before. He took a deep breath. "Besides," he said, sounding calmer then before. "It's not like it's your problem anyway. I can so deal with it."

Kim sighed, and allowed her tone to soften as well. "Was it because I got hurt?"

"Huh?"

"Are you upset because I got hurt and you couldn't stop it?" Her tone was nonchalant, which only served to make Stoppable feel guiltier. He groaned, resigned.

"It was my fault."

"What?"

"It was _my _fault. Don't you know? I'm the one who made the Seniors supervillains in the first place!"

"Ron…"

"If I hadn't been so conceited and full of myself, if I had just kept my mouth shut instead of giving him helpful little tips on how to be a oh, a dangerous criminal, he'd still be another rich harmless guy, not to mention you wouldn't have been stabbed in the leg and shoulder!"

"Ron?"

"Don't you get it by now, Kim? I'm not safe to be around! Thanks to me, you have yet another dangerous criminal on the loose, not to mention how _little _I help you on the missions and-"

"Ron!"

He finally met her eyes, and Kim was startled by the raw emotion in them.

"What?"

"Ron, you need to stop beating yourself up over this. What happened happened and couldn't have happened any other way. Yes, the way things turned out were unfortunate, but there is absolutely no way you could have known that he would actually do the things you suggested."

"But I could have stopped it." Ron's voice was much quieter now, but still held a soft protest. "If I had even left out the spinning tops of doom part, it might not have happened. Instead, I caused an innocent man to become one of the most dangerous criminals ever! And as if that wasn't enough, after I did it, I couldn't even protect myself from being kidnapped and used as bait against you, and because of me, you were seriously hurt. Don't you see? I failed you."

"No! You didn't fail. You're not God, Ron. There was nothing you could have done."

"But I-"

"Uh-uh. Just listen. You didn't turn Triple S into a supervillain, he did that himself. He has free will, and it was _his _decision to become a criminal. Nothing you did could have prevented that. As for my getting hurt, get over it. I've been hurt on missions before, that's simply going to happen sooner or later in this line of work. You know that, and I know that, and I'm not going to have you beating yourself up everytime a villain gets in a lucky hit. You're my best friend Ron, and I'm simply not gonna let you do it."

Ron's mouth opened, then closed. She was right, there really wasn't anything he needed to say to that. "Kim… I… thanks- I-"

Kim chuckled and threw an arm over her friends' shoulders playfully. "Anytime you need to hear that again, just ask." A devilish grin played across her face briefly. "Besides, someone that consumes that much power for a big screen TV, or whatever, is hardly harmless."

Ron pulled away and grinned goofily. "Now that's just evil."

"But you like it anyway, don't you." It clearly wasn't a question.

And just like that, Ron felt the weight of the world come off his shoulders. Of course, she was right. No need to give himself a thrashing over the things of the past. She was his best friend, and nothing, not even his occasional stupidity could come between them.

They were best friends, enough said.


End file.
